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Living near a billboard can lower your home value, according to a new report, “Beyond Aesthetics: How Billboards Affect Economic Prosperity,” by urban planner Jonathan Snyder.
Researchers analyzed homes in Philadelphia near billboards to see what impact the advertisements may have on property values. The study found that homes within 500 feet of a billboard were worth $30,826 less, on average, at times of resale than similar properties further away from billboards.
Furthermore, the study found that homes located further than 500 feet away from a billboard but within a community where billboards are still present also see an impact to their home prices--a decrease of nearly $1,000 for every billboard in that community.
“Billboards are detrimental to the neighborhoods they hover over,” Mary Tracy, president of Scenic America, said in a statement. “We’ve known that billboards detract from a neighborhood’s aesthetics, its sense of place, and the mental and physical well-being of its residents. Now we know that billboards have the very real impact of lowering property values.”
What do you think? Do you think billboards really can have such a negative impact over property values?
